The type of article carrier selected to package a particular product is usually a function of several different considerations. The carrier must be capable of supporting the articles in a manner which prevents them from falling out, the cost of the carrier cannot be excessive and the carrier design must be consistent with the packaging goal. For example, some products require a fully enclosed carrier in order to provide a secure package or to satisfy certain quality appearance standards. Fully enclosed packages provide maximum surface space for printing or graphics.
Other products are packaged in open-ended wrap-around carriers. While such carriers are less expensive, they provide less space for article-identifying indicia and are vulnerable to pricing errors. This arises from the practice of selling certain types of articles, such as food or beverage containers, either as individual units or in a multi-container carton. Each article is normally marked with a pricing code to enable it to be scanned and automatically totaled at a retail outlet when sold as an individual item. When packaged in conventional open-ended carriers, pricing errors can occur if the scanner sees the pricing code on one of the articles instead of the code on the package itself.
Some products, such as beverage bottles, are conventionally sold in basket-style carriers. Basket-style carriers are easy to carry and permit the top portions of the bottles to be seen. This is advantageous when the distinctive shape of the bottles or other packaged articles is suggestive of the brand. The unique shape of some articles is not limited to their top portions only but may include the shape of their lower portions, the type of overall surface configuration or the design of the bottom portion. In such cases it is desirable to use a package which exposes as much of the article as possible. This creates problems of carrier strength, since to expose the articles necessarily reduces the surface area of the carrier. It also creates pricing code problems similar to the problems discussed above.
It is an object of the invention to provide an article carrier which allows major portions of the articles to be exposed to view, but which provides adequate strength and is capable of covering the pricing code on the articles.